Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-09-29
a CowsoY,s TALk.

g. Franklin Earlscourt is not DUDE
&c his name would indicate, neither IS
he the hero of a popular seaside 1dyll;
nor one of the ''Ouida's" exaggerated
Establishment. G.. FRANKLIN is cow
how. In addition to being a cowboy
with his name and hair parted IN the
middle, c. FRANKLIN possesses other
claims to the attention of a discriminat--
ing public, because he accompanied
the United States Government commis--
sion to inspect and report to Congress
upon the Union Pacific railroad at the
time when the railroad was In course
of construction. That was quite a
while ago. 1t was in the good old days
when General Frank P. Blair was alive.
c. Frank was quite a youngster then
a kid. in fact-and his connection with.
the commission of which Blair and
General Phil Sheridan were members
was such as might be referred to as
humble-very humble. He was cabin
bow on board the Pullman special.
'sIn the early hours of the morning"
said he to a reporter, al used to anchor
the Generals boots, and the Professor 8
low-cut shoes opposite the berth's OF
their respective owners, and in gen.
eral way 1 exercised sort of superv1-
sion over the entire commission. Oh,
that was a great tripi We went all
along the line and held pow-wows with
all the big Indian chiefs. Before we
got back to Washington General Blair
had taught me first-class French man
ners; General Sheridan showed me
how to shoot and dance an Irish jig,
and Prof. White gave me n course in
reading, and when we got home Prof.
White and General Blair put me in a
good school, and 1 owe them my edu-
cation and present position.
81 recall number of amusing Incl
dents of that trip which I've never
seen in print. General Sheridan fig
ured in most of them as the person
with whom the fun always be-
gan. On one occasion, after a coun-
ell with a number of Ogallalla Sioux,
one of them was brought into our car by
Sheridan He was a strapping big fell
low, about six feet three, and had lost
one arm. He was weighty chieftain,
known to fame as Tall Bull. 1 don't
think I've ever seen any person quite as
tall as the chief Sheridan, you know,
is rather short and dumpy. When off
duty and out with Il oongenial crowd
the General is inclined to be very gay
and mischievous. Tall Bull. the grave
and dignified red man, was good sub
iect for his pranks, and as he marched
the chief up the aisle and introduced
him to General Blair and Prof. White
the General winked knowingly at the
crowd.
Tall Bull, gentlemen, the noble
red man of the forest, said he with a
flourish. The copper-colored son Of a.
buffalo will now perform one of his In.
imitable tricks with 4 watch-charn,
and Sheridan handed tall Bull charm
from his watch chain. The General
was guying the chief for the edification
of the party, acting all the while like u
school boy on half holiday. The In
dian didn't laugh. He was very seri-
Gus. Putting the bauble in his belt he
turned to General Blair. and in low,
solemn tones, pointing to Sheridan, he
said: Ugh! Little man. Heap foolI
Sheridan turned red as Il peony and
fed from the derisive laugh of the par
ty. After that whenever Sheridan tried
to put on airs General Blair would
bring him round with: Ugh! Little
man! Heap foolr
ION another occasion Prof. White
1 believe he hailed from New York
State-became frightened during the
attack on the coach by Indians, and
crawled under bedstead which had
been put in the car for his comfort.
White was an enormously big man,
weighing nearly $50 pounds, and he
got wedged in so tight that after the
scare was over he couldn't extricate
himself. The bedstead, be it understood, .
was screwed to the car floor. Sheridan
disliked White intensely and seized the
opportunity to vent his spite. Picking
up a Winchester rifle the General got
upon the bed and, yelling like a Co
manche, he jumped up and down on
the spring mattress directly over poor
White. Every time he came down
poor White uttered a groan. When
ever Blair or any of the others came
near, Sheridan cooked his Winchester
and threatened to shoot the first man
that inteIfered with him. Finally the
matter became serious and General
Blair drew his revolver and told Sheri-
dan he'd blow his head off if he didn't
get down. and when the bedstead was
unscrewed and White was released,
his body was covered with ugly black
bruises where the festive Sheridan had
danced a hornpipe on him. y
Earlscourt has just come in from the
West where he has had considerable
experience with the Indians.
you may have noticed" SAID he,
''that the cowboys are given credit for
being better Indian fighters than the
regular troops. Now. that's not true.
The regulars are better fighters by far;